Here's a blast from my high school past. I salvaged a photocopy of one of my high school compositions for English class that I had mailed to my mother. This was from circa the 90's, in which I was trying to incorporate Comparison and Contrast styles. Notice the heavily romanticized sentences, influenced by overly romanticizing Sweet Valley High books I was reading then. I was trying to sound philosophical, too. Is there such a phrase as "waxing Coehlic?" (instead of "waxing poetic") As in Paulo Coehlo-Coehlic? Re-reading my essay now makes me wince. Haha!

It's a great excuse, though, to post my Ottawa River photos!

The Essay is called "Life is like a River."

View of Parliament Hill from Ottawa River, Canada while on board the "Lady Dive" Tour

Aah...Nothing is as equally soothing as the sound of a river eagerly rushing to the banks at the start of a new day. Funny, it may seem, but this body of water is nature's live example of one of the universe's most intriguing mysteries--Life. A mystery, indeed, for one can only speculate on what fate holds before [sic!] us.

Every soul on earth lives a river different from our own. The mere sight of them, whether they'll be deceiving or not, instantly jolts our senses into cooking up [I must have been hungry here] conclusions most appropriate for that person. Aaw, look, there isn't a single trace of movement in the water, and not even the tiniest insect is stirring. Tranquility, therefore, dominates man's state of being. This is a point where his whistled tunes fill the still air. But there is, in fact, a great number of the kinds of rivers a human being is destined to dip his feet into. A river in [sic] which one must not only cross, but swim through and get himself soaking wet with all his life.

One must also understand that every second is not always for laughter, for there are other truths in life that are just inevitable whether we like it or not. The more scary thing about taking the plunge is that, you'll never know what's waiting for you at the other end. Unless, of course, you were born a nifty [?] psychic, the future could only be at the wink of an eye. Lucky for them if so, but not for us because we are bound to wade through life's unpredictable waters with our eyes closed.

God knows what big boulders lie ahead, or worse, what if it's a deep fall just miles away? The best thing to do, I guess, is to go with the flow and fight as we are challenged. We may crash into a lot of things, the current may be rough, yet we just have to keep on running [?!]. Who knows, we might make it through our destination with a genuine smile on our faces.

However, before reaching this place there shall be many experiences; even dangers. Maybe after all this, love will never be a new word for us anymore [where did THAT come from?!]. Besides, life wouldn't be too hard for man because God gave Himself to every person we meet as real friends, not pawns to be manipulated. Therefore, we can say that life is a test of strength, a test of the staying power just as a river fights for survival against total extinction [I must have been referring to the Pasig River here].

The very true essence of life, which is also true to any river in this world is to move on [sic] whatever hits us along the way. We've got God on our side as we face the pain, the triumphs and other lessons in life. It's the thought that we can make it that keeps us alive and perhaps for years to come.

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vandalized my wall:

I loved your essay. How I wish I managed to write something like that ages ago. I think my essay before were (politically and environmentally) too serious. The photos reminded me of boating in Mambukal Falls in Bacolod.